CECIL HURT: How long will Vols' March run last?

Monday

Mar 24, 2008 at 12:33 AM

The NCAA Tournament is made memorable by its Cinderella stories. But those magical moments are made magical by the fact that, most of the time, the bigger, stronger team finds a way to prevail.In the end, that’s what happened to the Butler Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center. The No. 10 seed Butler had every opportunity to upset Tennessee. The Bulldogs will curse their 10 missed foul shots, or 10 more points that they didn’t score because point-blank layups didn’t go in the basket. But in the decisive moment, it came down to a shot by Butler’s best player, A.J. Graves, that never got to the basket at all. That’s because Tyler Smith of Tennessee blocked what appeared to be a sure-fire game-tying shot, swatting it away at its very apex. It’s a shot that doesn’t get blocked in the Horizon League. That isn’t meant to take anything away from the coaching on either side. It’s not meant to imply that Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl didn’t do a great job all season, or that he didn’t do a good job on Saturday. It’s just that, at the end of the day, Tennessee was the more powerful, more athletic team — and used that power to win the game.“Our inside guys did a terrific job,” Pearl said. “We were able to be the more physical team, which we should be coming out of the SEC. That was very, very significant for us.”In fact, Pearl said he got a reminder from a coach whose talent is even more dominant in her domain — Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt.“Coach Summitt called me this morning and reminded me about the physical players in the tournament.” Pearl said. She said ‘Just tell those guys to rebound the basketball.’ I thought the way we started the game (with a 20-6 run) was extremely important. We sent a message right off the bat that we were going to represent the SEC.” The Volunteers’ 76-71 overtime win assured the Southeastern Conference of at least one Sweet 16 team for the 19th season in a row. Whether the Volunteers will go beyond the round of 16 for the first time in school history is more doubtful.Tennessee is essentially playing without a point guard and it showed on Sunday. It was glaring in the final minute when UT — with J.P. Prince, a natural forward, trying to play the point — turned the ball over on two of its last three offensive possessions. In the two rounds played in Birmingham, against American and Butler, UT was able to overcome that deficiency through superior athleticism.That won’t be the case in the next round. Tennessee will be the higher seed when it faces Louisville. But it would be an upset, in my mind, if Tennessee wins against a Cardinal team that was hitting on all cylinders in Birmingham. If Tennessee survives that, then it would almost certainly face North Carolina — in North Carolina. So the Vols’ Final Four dreams will likely have to be deferred for this season.An intriguing question is whether Tennessee will find itself back in this position a year from now. The teams two senior contributors, Chris Lofton and Jujuan Smith, are solid players. Lofton has made as many big shots as any SEC player in a long time. But, athletically, they can be replaced. Pearl recruits well, and UT insiders were hinting over the weekend that they were now the leaders for All-America guard Scotty Hopson, a Kentucky native who committed to — but never signed with — Mississippi State in the fall.The key for Tennessee may be Tyler Smith’s decision on whether or not to leave school for the NBA. It won’t be so easy for Tennessee, or anyone, to replace such a multi-talented forward. In fact, the shape of the SEC in 2009 will largely depend on what happens in the next six weeks, not just with Tyler Smith, but with other potential stars as well. The stay-or-go decisions of Smith, Mississippi State’s Jamont Gordon, LSU’s Anthony Randolph and Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson — and, of course, Alabama’s Richard Hendrix — will shape next season’s race.Talent like that makes a difference. If you don’t believe it, just ask Butler.

Cecil Hurt is sports editor of the Tuscaloosa News. Reach cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0225.

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